In his sermon 'The Apocalypse of Character,' Peter Allison delves into the concept of 'apocalypse' as a revealing or unveiling of one's true character, rather than solely a catastrophic event. Using Proverbs 17:4-6 as a foundation, he identifies three aspects that reveal character: the words we heed, our treatment of the poor, and how we respond to our enemies' calamities. Allison emphasizes that the character is unveiled through the conversations and music we engage with and the preachers we choose to listen to. He argues that contempt or disregard for the poor reflects scorn for God, highlighting the shared image of God in both rich and poor. Furthermore, he discusses the importance of not rejoicing in the misfortunes of our enemies but instead rejoicing in God's deliverance. The sermon concludes by highlighting the role of family and generational faithfulness, where the character is reflected in the spiritual upbringing of one's children and grandchildren, illustrating the blessing of seeing them walk in God's ways. Overall, the sermon calls for introspection and understanding of one's character through these revealing aspects, urging believers to seek God’s grace in sanctifying their hearts.

Please turn with me in your copy of God's Word to Proverbs chapter 17. We will be paying particular attention to verses 4, 5, and 6. I'd like to read the first six verses. Better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting with strife. A wise servant will rule over a son who causes shame, and will share an inheritance among the brothers.

The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts. An evildoer gives heed to false lips, and a liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue. He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker, he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their Father." may God add His blessing to the reading of His Word. Almighty Father in heaven, we ask that you would bless to our hearing and to our hearts this word.

We ask, oh Father, that you, in whom is all wisdom and all knowledge, in you in whom all of this world is held. May you impart light to us this morning. And may you impart life to us. May your Word be living and active, even as it divides asunder the joints in the marrow. This we ask by the powerful working of your Holy Spirit, through a vessel of clay, that the glory might be yours, in Christ's name, amen.

Amen. I've titled this message, The Apocalypse of character. Merriam-Webster defines apocalypse, the modern Merriam-Webster, the way we often think of that word as the complete and final destruction of the world. And it adds, especially as described in the biblical book of Revelation. An apocalypse in their view is an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale, such as the volcano that destroyed Pompeii or Mount St.

Helens, for those of you that remember that. And that's how we think of that word, apocalypse. But really, that's a word that means a revealing. That is, it's a revelation. That's why that word is associated with something that's received as a cataclysmic event.

Because the book of Revelation is a revealing of what was going to happen and the revealing of what was going to happen is Was that was this destruction this judgment upon the Jewish nation? The harlot nation a wicked people But really that word is just a Greek word for revelation, a revealing, a unveiling. Pulling back the curtain so that we can see what's behind the curtain. So when you think of apocalypse, maybe in the biblical use of that word, it's more like the Wizard of Oz when the curtain gets pulled back, revealing who the wizard is, that he's not a great and mighty being, but just a little old man speaking into a little microphone. And so the title of this message is, The Apocalypse of Character.

The revealing of our character. We've seen in previous weeks this section of God's Word is speaking about our character, speaking about comparing the desirability, the more excellent, the excellency of character above wealth, of character above bloodline, and God being the one who tests us, tests our character. And so we have in these three verses three things that reveal, they unveil, they pull back the curtain of our heart and reveal the character that's in there. And the first revealing, the first thing that reveals, characteristic that reveals our character is the words that we heed. An evildoer gives heed to false lips, and a liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue, or a destructive tongue.

To give heed to something is to regard it with care. It's not saying that the mere sound hit your eardrum and you comprehended something. But it's talking about what we pay attention to, what we give regard to, what we put weight on, what we take in and begin to incorporate into our thinking. That's what we give heed to. It's saying that our character is revealed by the conversations that we have and that we enjoy and that we participate in and the thoughts that we entertain.

Saying that wicked people, a wicked character is revealed by what we listen to, what we give heed to. Wicked people listen to false lips. We might expand that concept. That's the basic principle. We might expand that.

And to think about what are the things that we listen to in the sense that we give heed to. It's one of those things is the music that we listen to. Many of us with our with our technology are able to listen to music for a lot of what we do. Whether we're walking working in our home, we might have music on, or in our car, we might have music on. And you can tell a lot about a person by the music that they listen to, what they enjoy.

I remember when a former president was running for office, I won't say which one, there was a book that was published that they co-authored or had their name on it. And in that book they gave a very credible profession of faith in Jesus Christ. It said all of the right things. It was a very good couple pages about their profession of faith in Christ. It was a really very beautiful statement.

I remember somebody showing it to me with a fair amount of enthusiasm. Here was a person running for president and he had this wonderful profession of faith. Well, a while later after he was elected into office, in a little note, one of those little things that you just see that flashes by. The contents of this man's iPod was listed. He had opened up his iPod to some news reporters who had asked, well, Mr.

President, what do you listen to when you're out jogging or working out or whatever you do when you listen to music. So he had given the contents of his iPod. I was disappointed, but not surprised, but I was very disappointed to see that there was nothing on that iPod of anything of Christ, of anything that was good. The music was the music of this world, with all of its pagan characteristics. That said a lot, of course there were the actions of his presidency and the stands that he had taken and the things he had done, certainly reveal a lot, but I thought that really does what he was listening to.

The Words that he put in his heart and in his mind throughout the day spoke a lot about who was this person really. And it really said far more to me about who this person was, his character, than all of the public proclamations that were being made by him, and all the speeches that he would give you know Most presidents are giving speeches almost every day saying something that's being put out on the radio waves Releasing things through their press secretaries and so forth. But what he was listening to, what he was giving heed to, said a lot about his character. So character is also revealed in another way. It's revealed by the preachers that we seek out and choose to hear.

Complaints and assessments of false preachers are rampant today, especially among people who consider themselves reformed, to have a biblical, as they like to say, view of worship and preaching and so forth. And so there are preachers today who don't proclaim the truth. Who adulterate the word of God to appease ears and ease the consciences of the people they are speaking to. And it is true that this isn't good. And that these people who are holding themselves up as teachers do incur a stricter judgment for their errors.

James says, let not many of you become teachers knowing that we incur a stricter judgment. And yet this proverb is looking at the converse of that. It's looking at it from the other side. For in front of every false preacher who is not speaking the truth is a congregation of what this proverb says is wicked people. Those who give heed to false lips are themselves wicked." Isaiah talks a little bit about this.

Isaiah was a prophet sent to Israel in somewhat of the middle of that kingdom, in days of Isaiah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, which was getting down to the end of that kingdom. He was a prophet. He was God's messenger who was sent to Israel and Judah. God told them, you know, the people, I'm going to send you, but the people aren't going to listen to you. They're going to be rebellious, but you need to go anyways.

In Isaiah chapter 30, God gives him a message. He says to verse 8, he says to Isaiah, now go write it before them, it's before Israel, on a tablet and note it on a scroll. God is giving this message in writing as well as as well as orally. Put it in writing that it may be for time to come forever and ever. Write it down so there's no excuse.

Give them this message written. That This is the message. That this is a rebellious people. Lying children. Children who will not hear the word of God.

This is what he was to write down and give to them. It's not a pleasant message. How did he describe these people? Woe which say to the seers, do not see, and to the prophets, do not prophesy to us right things, speak to us in smooth words, prophesy deceits. Isaiah was sent to a wicked people.

And one of the characteristics of this people is that they listened to bad preachers. To preachers who spoke lies. In fact, they were the ones who were urging them. They didn't want to listen to people who spoke the truth. They wanted to listen to preachers who said smooth things.

Things that were easy for them to hear. Things that didn't call them to repentance or point out their sins. Things that didn't point out that they were under the wrath of God, that God's judgment was coming upon this land because of their rebellion. And so yes, The prophets were to blame who prophesied lies. They did incur a stricter judgment.

They were the watchmen on the wall and it was their duty to warn the people. And their failure to do that and speak the truth is a judgment against them. But at the same time, it takes a wicked people to have a wicked prophet. Because a righteous people won't listen to somebody who is speaking lies. Remember when Jehoshaphat and Ahab were planning to go to battle.

And Ahab had all of these false prophets. So when Jehoshaphat said, well, can't we inquire of the Lord? There were many false prophets that were ready to come and say all manner of nice things to Ahab. Tell him what he wanted to hear, that he was going to go out, and he was going to be victorious, and he was going to win the day, and rah-rah for, go Israel. And Jehoshaphat was, isn't there a prophet of the Lord around here anywhere?

Somebody that will speak the truth? He didn't want to hear, he didn't want to listen to the lies of all the hundreds of prophets, false prophets that Ahab had surrounded himself with. For every false prophet, There's a congregation of wicked people listening to those lies. And so think about that. The next time you think about false teachers.

Another example is in Matthew 27 with the Jews in the crucifixion of Christ. The Pharisees are the proverbial bad guys. When you need an example of somebody who is all the wrong things, proud and haughty and so forth, you go to the Pharisees. You Don't be a Pharisee. It's almost a pejorative term, the way we think of it.

And Jesus had many strong condemnations for them. And rightly so. He pronounced many terrible woes upon them because they were, as Jesus said, blind guides and leading the blind. But look at this, in Matthew 27, Jesus is standing before Pilate. His wife had told him to have nothing to do with this man Jesus because he was a just man.

And so he was trying to release Jesus to the Jews. It was his custom, it was the custom in that land for him to release one prisoner to the people. To Please them as a gesture of goodwill. Sort of a, it's like the presidential pardon. The people wanted somebody, then he would release one person.

He would pardon one person and release them. And he wanted to release Jesus to them. It would solve a lot of problems for him. He didn't want to initially condemn Jesus. His wife is telling him don't do it.

So he's trying to persuade the multitude, the Israelites, that here let me release Jesus to you. But they didn't want to have anything of it. It says in verse 20, the chief priests and the elders, these are the Pharisees, the Sadducees, these are the rulers, the chief priests and the elders, persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. And so when the pilot asked them, which of the two do you want me to release to you? They said Barabbas.

Yes, the Pharisees were wicked people. Most of them, many of them. There were some that weren't. There were some that God converted. But these chief priests and these elders, these were the people who just hours before had found false witnesses to testify against Jesus so that they could condemn him.

And they are persuading the people to ask for Barabbas, a insurrectionist and murderer, and condemn Jesus. And the people listen to them. Those were wicked people. And we know that because Peter, a few days later, a month later, is speaking to these same people in Acts 2. And he's preaching to them in the day of Pentecost.

And he says that speaking to this same multitude, he says, you, by wicked hands, you wicked people crucified the Lord of Glory. It's a wicked people that listens to lies and gives heed to false lips. It's a wicked people that can also listen to something and misunderstand it. Character is revealed by what we listen to, by the words that we heed. But it's also revealed by our treatment of those who are poor.

Our character, what's in our heart, is expressed by how we regard the poor. You see, When we see somebody that is wealthy, we want to be friends with them. We want to treat them nicely and with respect. It's just, we might say it's human nature. That doesn't reveal the character of our heart.

It's when we see somebody that is destitute, somebody that's poor. How do we regard them? How do we look upon them? Proverbs 1431 speaks about those who oppress the poor as insulting God. But this is going a little bit farther.

Oppressant is an active thing. It's an active commission of something that's wrong against somebody else. This is going a little bit farther. This is saying not what do you do, but really what's, what do you think about this person? To have reproach is to regard with contempt, to have scorn.

You can have that in your thoughts without doing anything. And that thought, that reproach, that contempt, that looking down upon and not having any compassion for the poor is a revealer of what's in our heart, the character of our heart. To treat the poor with contempt is to show contempt for God. It's to treat the creator with scorn and contempt. Because God is the one who made the rich and the poor alike.

The rich and the poor are both made in the image of God. They are both people of God's pasture. The rich and poor meet together, the proverb says. The Lord is maker of them all. And when we regard somebody that has been made in God's image With contempt and scorn, we are showing contempt and scorn for the one who made them.

If we ignore, If we show contempt by ignoring the poor, we are showing contempt for God. That's what God says. He who mocks the poor reproaches His Maker, the one who made that poor man. We're not only reproaching God the Creator, but we're also reproaching God's Providence, we're approaching God's the provider. We're saying that God's governance of this world is something we look upon with contempt.

That the way God has is ruling. We don't think is worthy of praise, worthy of our attention. Because it's God's Providence that has made one person rich and another person poor when they have the exact same talent When they have the exact same abilities when God has given two people exactly the same Capacity and capability he might in through his Providence enable one to be wealthy and another one not. He may give to one person, one minister, the privilege of preaching before a great big conference and congregation, and another man, a small country church. That's God's providence.

It's also God's providence that gives one person greater talents than another person. Somebody might be rich because they have been given many talents for business, a skill, business skill, an acumen, and the ability to see opportunities to help people and make money. And another person doesn't have those same gifts. And so one person is wealthy and another one is not. It's God's providence that makes those differences.

Deuteronomy 8 warns the Israelites that when God brings them into this land flowing with milk and honey and blesses their families and blesses their produce and the ground and he blesses their flocks and their herds and they become wealthy and they're able to build magnificent homes for themselves Moses warns him he says Beware that your heart is not lifted up and you think to yourself it is my ability that has gotten me this power to get this wealth. He says remember it is the Lord that gives you the ability to get the wealth that you have. It's the Lord. It's not us. And so to look down with contempt or to look down with benign superiority upon somebody who is poor is to look down with benign superiority on God Himself, God the provider, God our banner.

Together. James warns us about this kind of treatment of people who come into the church. It's easy when somebody that has money come into the church, we show them honor. We show them more deference than somebody who is homeless, who comes into the church. James says, beware, beware.

You don't say to the one, sit up here in this place of honor, and to the other, sit back there. Beware that you don't just say, oh, well, we'll pray for you. And you have a big prayer meeting and you pray for the Lord to provide and then you say well I hope he provides have a nice day but rather that that we pray for the Lord to provide and then we labor we give we show compassion and mercy for those who are poor in destitute and in poverty and need. He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker. And he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

Another revelation, revealing another apocalypse of our character is how we view the fortunes of our enemies, those who have hurt us, harmed us. He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. Proverbs 24 says, verse 17, don't rejoice. Don't rejoice when you see your enemy fall into calamity. Don't rejoice lest the Lord see it and displease him and turn away His wrath from Him.

Don't rejoice at calamity because the person that does will not go unpunished. Now I think this is probably obvious to all of us. Not to rejoice in evil, but rather to have compassion, to show mercy to those who are suffering distress. It is easy to show mercy to have compassion when somebody that we love very much is suffering distress. That is not a revealing of our character.

The Bible says, Jesus says it is easy to love those that are kind to us. But what about loving those who are our enemies? What about not rejoicing when they meet a calamity? Do we show compassion to them? Do we have a burden to help them and show mercy to them?

Now, What about, you might be thinking, what about Exodus 15? Exodus 15, When the Israelites left the land of Egypt, God delivered them by a mighty hand. And then brought them to the sea, the Red Sea that was before them. The mountains were on their sides. And then Pharaoh decided he didn't want the Israelites to go and he sent his soldiers army after them.

And this is the Pharaoh that's been oppressing them, been killing their babies, beating them, making them labor harder and harder, breaking their backs to build his kingdom and his buildings. And they prayed for the Lord to deliver them. God had promised to deliver them. He said he heard their cry and They were oppressed. And he would deliver them.

And he did deliver them. I'm sure you know this story. And then after he delivered them, Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord saying, I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea. It says that, it sings about God destroying them.

He says, you have overthrown those who rose against you. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, I will draw my sword, and your hands destroyed them. You blew with your wind, the sea covered them, they sank like lead. And they rejoiced that the horse and rider had been thrown into the sea. God's people, Miriam led the women in dancing and praising God that this enemy had been destroyed.

What are we to make of that in the light of Proverbs 17 and Proverbs 24? That says, don't rejoice at the calamity of the wicked or your enemy. I think the distinction that we have to make here, we have to make a very careful distinction, That we ought to have a burden for calamity that falls upon our enemies, even as we rejoice in their deliverance. The difference is this, that we rejoice in God's deliverance and not in their calamity. We rejoice in the strength of the Lord, we rejoice in the mercy of the Lord that has delivered us and not in seeing the enemy destroyed.

That might sound like a very fine distinction. And it is. It is. It's a lot like wrath if you think about it. The Bible never says that wrath is a sin.

In fact it says in one place, be angry and do not sin. And that a righteous man is angry at wickedness. Moses was angry, full of wrath at the wickedness of the Israelites at times. So we are not told that anger is a sin, and yet we are also told that we are to be slow to anger, and that anger can be a source of contentions and jealousies, or lead to strife, And that the wrath of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. And we are warned, be angry and do not sin.

Do not sin. Because it's so easy to sin in our sinfulness, in anger. And that is, I think, the same context, the same principle that we need to remember in this. Yes, it is right to rejoice when God delivers us from His enemies. And in the book of Revelation, we see the same thing.

There is great rejoicing. In fact, the saints are called to rejoice over her, O heaven, and holy apostles and prophets because God has avenged, speaking of the harlot, God has avenged, Babylon, God has avenged you of her. Rejoice but you are not rejoicing in the downfall and calamity that has befallen your enemy in a personal sense, but you are rejoicing, personally rejoicing in what God has done, in God's mercy, in God's justice. You might say, well that's really hard to keep straight. Yes it is.

Yes it is. And so we need to ask ourselves in those times, what am I really rejoicing over? Can I help this enemy upon whom this calamity has fallen? Do I have compassion in my heart for them, for their soul, to care for their body? Or would I rather not go near them?

Would I rather not have anything to do with them and just ignore them? That's a revelation of the character, a revealing of the character in our heart. How do we look at it and regard the calamity that falls on our enemies? Our character, lastly, is revealed by the children of our children. Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their father.

Crown is a term that denotes honor, power, a certain measure of authority. And glory is that which is beautiful, it's that which is an ornament. Grandchildren are the crown of grandparents, because they represent the fruit of two generations. There is the first generation of teaching one's children to know the Lord. And then there is the fruit of the second generation of those children teaching their children to know the Lord.

Because you see, it's not just any child, any grandchild that is a crown, that is an honor, But it is children and grandchildren who fear the Lord. Fathers are the glory of children in that their children are adorned and made attractive by the instruction of the family, of the father and the mother. That's what makes a child beautiful. It gives them the character that fears the Lord. It's the instruction of the father and the mother that has gone into them, training them, teaching them the precepts and the ways of the Lord.

And so fathers are a glory of their children in that it is that instruction and that teaching that adorns the child as they grow up into a man or woman of God. First, Thessalonians uses this same analogy. The same analogy. Paul says to the Thessalonians, 1st Thessalonians 2, For this reason we also thank God without ceasing. I mean, that started a little later, down in verse 17.

But we brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. Therefore we wanted to come to you, Even I, Paul, time and again, but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope? Or what is our joy? Or what is our crown of rejoicing?

Is it not even you? These were his spiritual children. And he says, you're our crown, you're our joy, you're our hope. What is it? Seeing you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming, for you are our glory and joy." Paul's crown, what was an ornament of grace, was to see these who were his spiritual children in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming to see them walking in the truth.

And so it's not just any child or any grandchildren that are the crown and the glory, but it is those who are seen in the presence of Jesus Christ at His coming who are the crown and the glory. Now why is it grandchildren here? Why didn't it say children? What is added by saying grandchildren? Children's children are the crown of old men.

I think there are a couple of thoughts behind this. First of all, as I said, it speaks of God's blessing over a couple generations. But particularly it speaks of not just how well you have taught your children, but how well you have taught your children to teach their children. And there's a little difference between that. We can as parents have good habits in our home.

And we can tell our children, well you need to do this and you need to do that, and this is the way we do it, and this is right and this is wrong. And you can raise children who have good habits, But you can fail to teach them the principles behind those habits, to teach them the source of those habits, to teach them the foundation on which those principles are based, which is the Word of God, and which is a right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it's very possible to have children and to have a home, And then as these children grow up, because they haven't been grounded in the Word of God and taught the principles of the Scriptures and the ability to make those decisions for themselves, and because they haven't made those principles their own principles, because they haven't made the word of God the authority in their life, it was simply what we did at home, then they can grow up and wander away. Not rebel necessarily, but There's no zeal there. They just wander into other things.

Oh, there may be the outward form of going to church every week, but there's no heart in that second generation home. There's no heart for Christ. There's no heart for the principles of God's Word. And so those grandchildren grow up in that home. And what do they do?

They follow the world. You can see this very often. In fact, it has become a phrase. The first generation is faithful and the second generation falls away. Because As parents, we have to teach our children more than just this is right and this is wrong.

We have to teach them the principles behind and where those principles come from. We have to ground them in the Scriptures so that they are able to make those decisions and able to think for themselves. You have to give them the why. There's a little parable that goes around, I'm sure you've all heard of it, where this mother is cooking Thanksgiving dinner and she is putting the roast in the roasting pan and she is following the things that she learned from her mother. Who learned from her mother.

And so she cuts the end of that roast off and puts it in her roasting pan. And her little daughter says, Mother, why are you cutting the end of that roast off? And Mother says, Well, no, that's just what I was taught to do. That's the way my mother always did it, so I always cut this end and that end off. But let me ask my mother, so the mother asks her mother, the grandmother, why did you cut the end of the roast off?

And the answer is because my pan wasn't big enough to hold the roast. You see that is often what can happen in our homes. We may give the right habits, but we don't teach the principles that are behind those habits. And so the grandchildren grow up in a very different home and do not follow the Lord. But also, Not only is it how well a man has taught his children to teach their children, but believing grandchildren also represents the ongoing prayer for the succeeding generation.

The ongoing prayer for one's children as they raise their own children. The way our children turn out is the grace of the Lord. Yes, parents, fathers are responsible for the outcome of their family. In fact, it's a characteristic for elders to have children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. But it's still a matter of grace.

Because there is none of us as fathers and mothers who are able to do all that we do perfectly or even in any adequate sense teaching our children in word and in precept and by example. None of us are able to do that. The fact that we do it is only the grace of God in our life. Just like none of us is able to repent and believe, the fact that any of us have repented and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ is only the grace of God in us. Who makes us to differ from the man who hasn't?

It's the grace of God. And yet, that man who hasn't repented still is responsible for his rejection of God. And so, we as parents can continue to pray for our children, even as we prayed for God's grace in the life of our children. To pray every day for God's grace in the life of our children as they teach their children. And to pray for those grandchildren.

When Paul talked about Timothy's faith, he didn't just speak about his mother and the faith that was in his mother and how she had taught him, but he also spoke of the faith that was in his grandmother. And how his mother and his grandmother had taught Timothy the scriptures from his infancy. The scriptures that were able to make him wise and to salvation. And so there is then a spiritual relationship in the family. There is a spiritual relationship in the family.

The family relationships speak of a spiritual truth. Just like there is a spiritual relationship between husbands and wives that reflects the relationship between Christ and his bride, the church, there is spiritual significance between the relationship of fathers and sons, parents and children. The relationship that is experienced in the Trinity is mirrored in the family. God the Father, Jesus Christ the eternally begotten Son, fully God, second person of the Trinity, but he is God the Son, in no way less than the glory of the Father, in no way less God, In no way less God. In no way less in authority, dominion, and power in being.

But yet, God the Son. God blesses families. To a thousand generations of those that love him and that keep his commandments. God blesses families, generation after generation, because God saves his people in families from generation to generation. That same sermon that Peter preached in Pentecost also has this promise, this statement.

The promise is to you and to your children. The promise of salvation is to you and to your children. The promise of salvation is to you and to your children and to all who are far off, even as many as believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That isn't said of the children of unbelievers. The promise is not to them and their children.

That promise is to the children of believers. They are different. God saves his people in families. It doesn't mean that children are born saved, But it means that God is gracious in families. And that it is God's grace that puts children in believing homes where they hear from their very infancy the scriptures which are able to make them wise to salvation.

Psalm 127 speaks of the blessing of children. It gives a view of children as being the heritage of the Lord. Children are the heritage of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is his reward. But it is the next Psalm, Psalm 128, that speaks about the characteristics of a righteous man, the one who fears God. Blessed the man, this song of ascents, as they sang going up to the temple, blessed is the one who fears the Lord.

That's what this Psalm 128 is about. The man who fears the Lord. What is that man like? That man who walks in God's ways, who follows his precepts, who lives his life in relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, when he eats the fruit of his labor, the fruit of his hands, he will be happy.

It will be well with him. His wife will be as a fruitful vine in the very heart of his house. His children, like all the plants around his table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord." There's a familial blessing there. And his wife, and his family, and his children, like olive plants in strength and beauty, are gathered around the table.

"'The Lord bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. And here is the capstone blessing of God. Yes, may you see your children's children. May you see your children's children and peace beyond Israel that is the fruit of a man who fears God he will see his children's children come to know the Lord, come to walk in his ways." That is the blessing that Job saw. After all of the calamities that fell on Job, and all of the trials and all of the suffering.

And remember Job justifies himself. And one of the things that he justified himself there in that section, in that book is that he did not rejoice at the calamity of his enemies. But then in the very end in Job chapter 42, when God is recording the blessings that came upon Job, and mind you he had had a family and they had all been killed, and his children had been grown, so Job is an older man, and yet God's blessing to Job was that he saw his children's children. God gave him more children. God restored all of his wealth.

He gave him beautiful children. And he lived 140 years and saw his children and his grandchildren for four generations After having seen all his children killed That is indeed the crown grandchildren are indeed the crown of old men if they walk in the way of righteousness. So these are a revelation of our character from the very practical things that look upon the inside of our heart and happen in moments in time. To the very grand things that describe the entire course of our life and our faithfulness, not just over one year, five years or ten years, but faithfulness over thirty and forty years. Our character is revealed in these things.

The children of our children, our treatment of the poor, and the words that we listen to. Almighty Heavenly Father, we thank you that you, the refiner of our hearts, are also the and sanctify are also the sanctifier of our hearts. And that you do reveal to us the nature of our own heart. And help us Lord where we see that which is ugly, sinful, corrupt. As you reveal that to us, Grant to us the grace of repentance and as you show to us the fruit of your work in us as You redeem us May we rejoice in your good gifts May we rejoice in your grace and may we be stirred up and encouraged to greater zeal, to greater rejoicing, to greater thankfulness at the wonder of your mercy and your love upon us.

And we ask that. You would indeed bless. The labor in our homes that you would hear our prayers for our children and our grandchildren in Jesus name we pray amen